that may say something about the fact that an 11 yr old really doesn't need a HRM? Let the kid have some fun with the sport before he has to worry about any of that.

Of course I don't know the circumstances, so, I do imagine they would be fairly high for most kids in general, however as always, it depends on the person. Where one may have a max of something crazy high like over 220, another may only be 210 or less. The only way to know is to test max and work from there. However, keep the above in mind.

I'll second nutterbutter.
Eleven years old is when most kids are physically ready to develop their cardiovascular system but mentally they still need to be having a LOT of fun.
I'd ONLY put an 11-year-old into a HRM if he is the nerd type who likes playing with numbers and has already expressed interest in having an electronic gizmo -- not to dictate his training.
This is the time to work on technique and aerobic capacity. The talk test is fine enough for judging how hard he's working.
They won't really be able to develop their strength/speed until they hit puberty. At which time his definition of "FUN" may change from games and playing around to what older people think is fun.

Training your own kids is a very slippery slope. It's hard to fill the roles of coach and parent at the same time and do a decent job of both. So many times the child ends up burned out and hating either the sport or his parents or both.

that may say something about the fact that an 11 yr old really doesn't need a HRM? Let the kid have some fun with the sport before he has to worry about any of that.

Of course I don't know the circumstances, .

Just looking for the numbers ,not the parenting counciling He is my 5th of 7 kids...very introverted and over shadowed by his outgoing 6 year old brother, so i am trying to do something that just the 2 of us can do. I have a computer trainer that records HR, power and cadence, which makes the indooor training more entertaining. I ride my rollers beside him while he rides the trainer. Just want some HR values so He is not overdoing it, and to get an idea of how high to go when we are mock racing for the finish! Hoping to do a few races this spring and summer and take some long birding rides...

You might check mtbr.com, particularly in the "Families and Riding with Kids" forum (just googling "mtb kids racing" should get you there). There are a lot of kids in that age range racing, and the parents on the forum may be able to offer some practical advice (as well, there is at least one poster who used to coach high school age riders) on appropriate training.

I know when I showed my 6yo my HRM and we compared numbers, his was up ~100bpm just sitting still (not resting). If it were me, I'd probably put the heart rate monitor on him and ride around the neighborhood to see what that kind of effort looks like, then craft something very similar for the first couple tries on the trainer [I know my 6yo wouldn't last more than once or twice riding on a trainer, so I probably won't have to worry about it for years :-) ].

Ditto on the not over complicating training for pre-teens. The right "zone" for cardiovascular training for a kid in Jr High is working hard enough that they are breathing hard but can still talk in short sentences. Start with intervals of 5-15 minutes max with recreational intensity level recovery periods. As training progresses, you can increase duration and intensity, but if the child is ever severely out of breath (can't get out more than a word or two at a time), gets light headed or nauseated, you are pushing too hard. Exercise is important but must be balanced with good nutrition and plenty of rest for a child to get the greatest benefit. Focus on establishing good health habits and keep it fun.

HR training for kids is probably even more useless than HR training for adults. Monitor his HR if you like for interests sake but use trainer speed and/or RPE if you really want to add structured training to his routine.

Thanks for the input. Nk> my son is having fun with seeing his HR on the graph. And the cadence. Never said he was normal...he is related to me after all...Think I'll get the book on training juniors on the uscf site. This is our quality fun time, nothing too serious. would just like to have some real numbers to go by, guess I am used to having text book-type guidelines, and would like to know where we are at, again more to avoid over doing. We have a genetic predisposition for that too...